Ireland To Mark Its 1,000th EuroMillions Draw!

Hundreds of Irish lives have been transformed and dreams have come true thanks to mega wins on EuroMillions which celebrated its 1,000th draw in Ireland on 18th August.

Eleven multi-millionaires have been created over the 999 Irish EuroMillions draws that have taken place over the last 13 years, while Ireland has also clocked up a massive 195 EuroMillion Plus winners of €500,000 in that time.

National Lottery CEO, Dermot Griffin, revealed today that more than one Billion Euro in prizes has been paid out to Irish EuroMillions players since the game launched here in October 2004.

“EuroMillions has been a massive success in Ireland. It really caught the imagination of players from the time of launch. We are delighted to say that as we approach our 1,000th draw EuroMillions is more popular than ever, with our players being offered the chance of winning truly life-changing amounts. The minimum jackpot is €17 million, with the highest jackpot possible €190 million, money that does allow dreams come true.”

“EuroMillions sales also benefit Good Causes all over Ireland. The total amount that has gone back to Good Causes is €472 million, benefitting projects and organisations in the areas of health, sport welfare, education, arts and heritage.”

The Jackpot for tomorrow night’s 1,000th draw is a mega €35 million, and the National Lottery is reporting brisk sales in the build-up. “We would love an Irish winner on what will be our 1,000th draw!” Mr Griffin said.

A total of nine European countries take part in EuroMillions. The first ever EuroMillions draw, with France, Spain and the UK, took place on February 13th 2004. Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Switzerland joined on October 8th 2004.

Ireland’s biggest EuroMillions winner was Dolores McNamara from Limerick who scooped a mind-boggling €115 million in 2005, sparking media interest from all over the world. That still remains the largest EuroMillions win in this country.

In total almost €35 Billion in prize money has been won throughout the EuroMillions community with the total winnings on Euromillions in Ireland at over €1 Billion.

Castlebar in Mayo is Ireland’s luckiest EuroMillions county boasting two of Ireland’s 11 jackpot wins. And Ireland is on a lucky streak at the moment scoring three Jackpot wins in the last year alone.

Here is the roll call of the lucky ten Irish EuroMillions winners to date:

1. July 2005: Dolores McNamara from Limerick was Ireland’s first and biggest EuroMillions winner scooping over €115 million.

2. July 2008: A lucky ticket bought in Carrick-on-Suir in Co. Tipperary won a player €15 million jackpot.

3. June 2009: A family syndicate shared the jackpot with a British winner, taking home over €29.4 million.

4. June 2013: A winning ticket sold in Beaumount, Dublin, shared a jackpot worth over €93 million.

5. September 2013: A young man from the South East shared a jackpot of over €25 million with a player in Spain, taking home over €12.8 million.

6. April 2014: A jackpot prize worth €15 million was claimed on a ticket sold in Castlebar, Co. Mayo.

7. September 2014: An €86.7 million jackpot was won by a syndicate from Dublin (private). The ticket was sold in Centra, Ballybrack, Co. Dublin.

8. January 2016: A syndicate of friends won over €66 million, splitting the jackpot of €132,376,632. The ticket was sold in Eason’s store, Fairgreen Shopping Centre, Carlow.

9. July 2016: 22 colleagues from Dublin Bus won the €23.8 million jackpot. The ticket was sold in O’Hanlon’s Portarlington.

10. January 2017: A Dublin work syndicate claimed the €88.5 million EuroMillions jackpot. The winning ticket was sold at the Applegreen Service Station on the M1 Northbound in Lusk, Co. Dublin.

11. July 2017: A Mayo syndicate claimed a €29 million EuroMillions Jackpot. The winning ticket was purchased in the Garryduff XL Store, of Pound Road, Castlebar.

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